Good news coming for Ski Wentworth?

Hill to co-host 2011 events with Martock

WENTWORTH - Ski Wentworth may be in line for some significant upgrades in preparation for the 2011 Canada Winter Games to be hosted by Halifax.

While no decisions have been made or contracts offered, Ski Wentworth general manager said it would be a tremendous boost if the ski hill were one of the successful sites for ski events during the two-week games in February 2011.

"Nothing has been officially announced yet," Wilson said Wednesday. "On a speculative basis, if we are selected it would be a tremendous opportunity for us."

AllNovaScotia.com is reporting that Wentworth and Ski Martock, near Windsor, will both get significant upgrades for the 2011 games. It's believed Ski Wentworth would host alpine and freestyle skiing events while Martock would host snowboard cross, parallel giant slalom, half pipe, cross country skiing and the biathlon.

A request for proposals has been called for saying work will include trail modifications and engineering work to upgrade snowmaking abilities at both hills.

It's not known how much the upgrades will cost.

Wilson said hosting the ski events will help develop high-performance athletes in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes and should be beneficial to the ski community at large with enhanced snowmaking ability.

"It will allow us to get open earlier and stretch the season," she said. "It will be a benefit to the high-performance athlete as well as the skiing public."

After suffering through a series of mild winters in the late 1990s, Ski Wentworth has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years with snowy, colder winters and enhanced snowmaking.

"It's a tough business, as is any business that relies on the weather," she said. "So much of your fate is in Mother Nature's hand. The added snowmaking is the key."

She said annual ski pass sales are strong this year.

Ski Wentworth gets between 60,000 and 70,000 visitors each year.

Melissa MacKinnon with the host society said a formal announcement on venues will be made in November, however, she confirmed that a memorandum of agreement has already been signed between the host society and the two ski hills.

"Halifax won the bid based on its bid book of venues and sports. The two ski hills were the two hills mentioned," she said. "In November we'll do the formal announcement of the venues, but with the ski hills there's a substantial amount of work that needs to be done to get them ready in time for the Games."